Third suspicious inmate death at Menard

FILE - This Feb. 5, 2013 file photo shows the Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Ill. Authorities say the death of a 35-year-old inmate at the prison Tuesday night, March 26, 2013, is suspicious. It the third suspicious death at the prison since Jan. 31. (AP Photo/The Southern, Paul Newton, File)

By JOHN O'CONNOR - AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD – The Associated Press has learned that authorities are calling the death of Menard Correctional Center inmate Tuesday night "suspicious."

It is the third such death of a Menard inmate in less than two months.

Randolph County Coroner Randy Dudenbostel (DOO'-dihn-bahs-sul) told The Associated Press that the 35-year-old man was declared dead in his cell in the prison's segregation unit at 10:36 p.m. Tuesday. The man had a cellmate even though he was in a segregated cell.